The atmosphere of the banquet was lively.
At the long tables other than Slytherin, the Young Wizards were chatting enthusiastically, getting to know one another.
As for Slytherin, most of them were proudly introducing their prominent family backgrounds, giving off a distinct sense of “high society” interacting with one another.
Will had just exchanged names with a few people around him when a nuisance quickly popped up.
“Well, well, well; Behrens. I don’t seem to have heard of this family. Am I just too ignorant?” Near Will, a pot-bellied boy spoke with a hint of mockery in his tone.
Will remembered that he had just introduced himself as Ivan Selwyn.
If he remembered correctly, the Selwyn Family was a lower-tier family among the “Sacred Twenty-Eight.”
So, this guy wanted to use him as a stepping stone?
“I come from the Muggle world,” Will said casually, as if he didn’t know what Slytherin represented.
“Then you should be honored to have come to Slytherin. Perhaps you can start a shoe-shining business in the common room; that would make your life in Hogwarts quite comfortable, hahaha!” Ivan Selwyn laughed like a brainless villain from a web novel.
“Selwyn, shut up,” Sylvia said in an unfriendly tone.
“Oh, oh, oh, since when does someone from the Lestrange Family speak up for a Muggle boy? Did someone feed you a bottle of Amortentia?” another Slytherin Young Wizard next to Ivan chimed in.
This was Obern Nott, a member of the Nott Family.
Will rubbed his forehead.
See, this was exactly why he didn’t want to come to Slytherin.
He didn’t want to waste time on some of Slytherin’s idiots.
“If all you can do is wag your useless tongues, I don’t mind hitting you with a couple of Langlock spells. If you have any grievances against me, feel free to find me after the banquet, rather than spitting into other people’s bowls at the dinner table like two noisy, rutting wild ducks.” Will’s words made the Young Wizards around them take a few steps back.
“What did you say?!”
“If there’s something wrong with your ears, you can go to St. Mungo’s to get them checked. I’m too lazy to repeat myself.” Will focused entirely on tackling the small steak in front of him.
Ivan’s chubby face turned red, bearing a slight resemblance to an American redneck.
He glanced at the staff table not far away, let out a cold snort, and turned away, no longer speaking to Will.
The surrounding Young Wizards also distanced themselves from Will, clearly not wanting to offend Ivan Selwyn.
Only Sylvia frowned slightly, leaning closer to Will, and whispered, “Being in Slytherin is clearly not a right choice for you.”
“I didn’t want to come here either. That broken hat took it upon itself. I originally wanted to go to Hufflepuff.”
“Well, whatever happens, you can look for me.”
“Look for you?” Will was a bit puzzled.
This girl from the Lestrange Family seemed a bit too eager to help him, which was very strange.
As if sensing Will’s confusion, Sylvia winked and said, “You look a lot like someone. As for the details, I’ll tell you later.”
Riddlers really were everywhere.
…
The dinner ended, and the Prefects led the freshmen back to their respective common rooms.
The Slytherin students followed their Prefect down a long spiral staircase.
Will was already beginning to suspect that living in the Slytherin dormitory for too long might give him rheumatism.
After a long walk downstairs, they finally arrived in front of a stone wall.
The Prefect announced loudly, “The password is ‘Glory’! You must remember the password, otherwise you’ll have to spend the night outside. Of course, if anyone forgets the glory of Slytherin, they will be kicked out.”
The serpent pattern beneath their feet slid upward like an arched gate formed by a snake’s body, and the stone wall parted automatically.
The Young Wizards continued down the stairs, which were carved with giant serpents on both sides.
The Slytherin common room, hung with many lanterns, finally appeared before everyone.
A huge, beautifully carved fireplace blazed with a raging fire.
The entire common room was warm, dry, and not at all damp, which made Will breathe a sigh of relief.
The surrounding walls were made of black Gothic marble, and the ceiling was a transparent dome carved from crystal, pitch black at the moment.
Green-glowing lamps hung from the ceiling by chains, adding a touch of Wizard-style gloomy atmosphere to the entire common room.
Being in this gloomy common room deep underground, Will felt somewhat helpless.
Damn Sorting Hat!
If there was any benefit, it was that Slytherin students had double dorms, perhaps because there was more underground space, or perhaps because there were fewer Slytherin students.
The Slytherin student dormitories were very large, and Will’s trunk had already been delivered to the room.
The bed was excellent; a tall four-poster bed hung with emerald-green flannel curtains, embellished with silver threads, looking very luxurious—the great power of Wizards allowed them to easily enjoy a high quality of life that Muggles could hardly access.
And although the dormitory was deep underground, the air was not stuffy or stale.
On the contrary, the ventilation here was very good, not much different from the castle.
However, Will didn’t feel happy because of this.
After all, his roommate was Obern Nott, who was currently glaring at him fiercely, “Kid, you’re finished!”
These words were like a “summoning charm for stupid bullies.” Two “idiots” in Will’s eyes pushed open the dormitory door and walked in.
One was Ivan Selwyn, and the other he didn’t know, but was clearly with Selwyn.
“Hey, Muggle boy, you’d better apologize to Ivan right now, or you might spend your first night at Hogwarts in the Hospital Wing.” Obern pulled out his wand.
And when he saw the wand already in Will’s hand, he seemed to see something hilarious, “Kid, you don’t think you can use your wand as a stick to beat us, do you? Or is a mudblood like you dreaming that you’ve already learned Avada?”
“Obern, why waste words with this mudblood kid? Teach him a good lesson and let him know what kind of attitude he should have toward nobles.” Ivan hadn’t even brought his wand and was rubbing his hands together, looking ready to rush up and engage in physical combat with Will.
After all, fights between first-year freshmen mostly relied on physical strength, and this nearly spherical Ivan clearly wanted to win by relying on his weight.
The other freshman he brought was cracking his knuckles.
“It doesn’t matter if a mudblood doesn’t know the rules. Perhaps I can have you work with the house-elves at my home for a while, so you can learn how to serve nobles.”
The few of them were like classic villains in a school drama, cornering a weak nerd to bully him.
But this was the Wizarding World, a place where knowledge was power.
Despite their threats, Will showed no sign of fear at all.
There was only cold mockery in his silver-grey eyes, which made them feel embarrassed.
Ivan Selwyn lost his patience and was the first to rush toward Will.
A trace of malice flashed in Will’s silver-grey eyes.
The wand already in his hand erupted with a beam of light: “Stupefy!”
The rushing Ivan was hit squarely in the forehead by this spell, instantly passing out like a dead pig and falling at Will’s feet under the influence of momentum.
“You actually used a spell?!” Obern blurted out such a stupid statement, only then remembering to point his wand at Will.
“Otherwise? Are Wizards supposed to fight with fists? Idiot! Expelliarmus! Petrificus Totalus!” Obern’s wand flew out of his hand instantly, and he was then frozen in place in a comical posture of losing his wand.
Seeing this scene, the last freshman already wanted to retreat, trying to slip away.
Will’s Petrificus Totalus immediately caught up with him, halting his “heroic posture” of fleeing.
“I hate idiots,” Will’s silver-grey eyes swept over the three of them, “especially those who are this stupid.”
A few minutes later, Will’s room quieted down, leaving him alone.
He cast a Colloportus on the dormitory door, and then lay down comfortably on his bed.
Sure enough, once the room was free of idiots, even the air became fresher.
And while Will was peacefully drifting off to sleep, three stiff first-year freshmen were hanging from the wall lamps of the Slytherin common room.
Surely, such a special entrance night would be remembered by them for the rest of their lives.
Will didn’t care whether doing this would make enemies.
What he needed was time and knowledge.
In a world where individual power could dominate everything, strength was the foundation of it all.
If Will possessed power comparable to Dumbledore, who would dare say anything to him?
What he needed to do now was to grind skills and learn magic, not play house with these idiots.